Why the north is in revolt against Labour

Up in my home town, Doncaster, to cover the Ukip conference last autumn, I spent a morning seeking an Ed Miliband fan. Outside the Frenchgate centre, in the busy market, even in the Labour club where old miners drank and reminisced, enthusiasm never exceeded a shrugging “He’s all reet, but he’s nowt to do with us”.

Farage may be routed, Ukip left with only one seat, but Labour should worry about more than their busted Scottish heartland. The north too is in revolt. Ukip enjoyed big swings in the northeast, came second in Hartlepool, was up 18 per cent in Ed’s own Doncaster North. Ed Balls lost Morley and Outwood because the collapsed Lib Dem vote flowed to his Ukip opponent, not him.